


World of Final Fantasy: Eclipse of Fate

by WrestleCrazyGamer



Category: World of Final Fantasy (Video Game 2016)
Genre: Gen, Multiple Worlds
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-06
Updated: 2018-06-26
Packaged: 2019-02-11 10:00:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12932889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WrestleCrazyGamer/pseuds/WrestleCrazyGamer
Summary: A world close to Grymoire has been looping through the same twelve disasters since its god abandoned it. Enna Kros is forced to step in and grant the prayer of the one behind the disasters.





	1. Reset

It was dark… darker than anything… the abyss that lay before her as she stood atop a tower reaching the clouds. The tower and the island supporting it were all that remained of the world. Shedding a tear, she let herself tip and fall off the edge toward the abyss. 

“Once more I cast myself into the void… to reset it all… whatever god is there watching… please… send someone, anyone, to stop me from committing my sin… my sin, which I’ve committed ad nauseum…” she prayed as she closed her eyes.

The abyss swallowed her soon after. All at once she felt the cold embrace of nothing, but then she began to feel warmth. Once more she was in a castle sitting upon the throne. Knights dressed head to toe in black and gold armor were lined before her. It was her coronation day… the day her spell always sent her back to. The cycle was going to begin again.

“Luke, wake up!”

A Jiant boy with spiky caramel hair then sprung awake on a haybale. He was dressed in black sneakers, blue jeans held up with a red belt featuring a dragon head buckle, and a black tank top. He then stretched letting out a big yawn.

“Luke, quit slacking and get out here!” 

He hopped to his feet and jogged over to exit the barn he was in. Standing outside was a Jiant girl his age with long red hair extending to her waist. She was dressed in black thigh boots with blue metal greaves, white pants tucked into her boots using a black belt, a blue tailcoat featuring a white breastplate, and blue gauntlets with the left bearing a red jewel on the back of the hand.

“You told me you were going to be up bright and early to help me catch a Mirage for my exams.” she scolded him.

“Sorry…” Luke chuckled.

“I’ve decided to Imprism a Babyhemoth. They’re known for becoming unstoppable Behemonsters after rigorous training… I’ll get promoted to Keeper 1st Class in no time.” she told him.

“Didn’t your instructor say it’ll take more than brute strength to pass the rank exams? Christine, don’t bite off more than you can chew.” Luke pointed out. 

“Shut up! I can so handle it!” she roared.

“After the Fritt incident I highly doubt that.” Luke shrugged.

“Shut up and come with me, I need your Libra skill to learn how to Imprism it.” Christine grumbled.

“Fine…” he sighed shrugging his shoulders.

The duo then left for Stardust Valley a few miles north of the Jiant town of Koal. Once there they carefully climbed up to the higher area known as the Behemoth Nesting Grounds. Normally it’s forbidden to go there without a Star Rank Mirage Keeper to keep a lookout for Behemoths or their more frightening bipedal forms. Luke and Christine hid in the bushes and scoped out the area looking for their quarry.

“I don’t see any Babyhemoths that aren’t dangerously close to their parents…” Christine sighed agitatedly.

“There’s a prime candidate over there.” Luke pointed out to her looking at the lone Babyhemoth trying to catch a butterfly in a flower patch.

“Perfect. How do I imprism it?” Christine asked excitedly.

“Libra…” Luke whispered making a series of magic circles appear over his right eye showing various stats to him.

“Well?” Christine rushed him.

“You’ll make a prismitunity when you weaken it. Don’t let it call for its parent or we’re both in big trouble though.” Luke warned her.

“Got it. Wait here, I’ll be back.” Christine snickered sneaking her way toward her prey.

“Don’t the-do it!” a voice called in Luke’s head.

“You’re mine…” Christine grinned leaping at her prey starting a brawl with it.

“Don’t the-stand there, you have to the-save her!” the voice cried in Luke’s head giving him a dizzying headache.

A loud roar brought him to his senses. Christine had succeeded, but a Behemonster was headed right for her wielding a large crudely-fashioned sword. On top of it the roar had alerted the other Behemoths to her presence. Without even thinking he ran as fast as he could to scoop her up and flee narrowly evading a swing from the beast.

“I don’t get it, it didn’t call out or anything!” Christine exclaimed.

“It was probably watching the entire time.” Luke told her.

To their dismay two Behemoths stepped forward at the exit of the area. Luke sped up and waited for them to lunge at him to bend backward and slide on his legs past them. Once back out they fled to town as fast as they could. Only when they were inside the town walls did they stop to take a break.

“I did it… and thanks for the save back there, Luke. My legs locked up on me the minute I saw it closing in on me.” Christine smiled catching her breath.

“I couldn’t just leave you there and save my own hide.” Luke told her stretching.

“You’re the-both idiots!” the voice screamed in Luke’s head making him get woozy falling over passing out.

“Luke? Luke?!” Christine exclaimed.

Cicadas were chirping when Luke came to. Rather than the barn he was so used to napping in, he was in a rather fancy bedroom. His body felt heavy as an iron block keeping him down under the covers. The door then opened and Christine entered holding a tray with a tea kettle on it.

“You’re finally awake…” Christine sighed.

“I feel like a rock…” Luke groaned.

“That’s because you’ve started awakening as a Keeper. I conditioned myself since I was little since both my parents are Keepers. You’re completely unprepared for it.” Christine explained.

“I’ll the-say.” the voice spoke again as a bright light blinded both of them.

Before them was now Tama, with a happy smile on her face. Christine and Luke were speechless as she descended and landed gently on Luke’s stomach.

“Luke shouldn’t the-have a Mirage Keeper bone in his body. I wonder why it’s the-different this time...” Tama wondered aloud.

“One, who are you? Two, what do you mean ‘this time’?” Christine asked.

“Me? I’m Tama, a friendly the-Mirage. If I explained it you two probably wouldn’t the-get it.” Tama answered.

“You came from inside me…?” Luke asked.

“I was able to the-materialize thanks to you. I’ve been around for a the-very long time, but used up my lives for this world.” Tama answered. 

“Huh…? Lives…?” Christine asked with a look of confusion.

“I can rewind time a teensy bit by the-sacrificing a life. Using his power I was able to the-regenerate some lives for this world allowing me to appear once more.” Tama explained.

“Wait, you’re Tama as in Tamamohime?!” Christine exclaimed.

“Correct!” Tama grinned.

“The legends are wrong… you’re not majestic in any way…” Luke scoffed.

“Hey!” Tama growled and all of a sudden he began gently scratching behind her ear making her blush.

“You’re cute and fluffy.” Luke smiled intensifying Tama’s blush.

“Luke, you have to be more careful with your words or people get the wrong idea.” Christine scolded him.

“No, I don’t the-mind him speaking the truth.” Tama giggled.

“If Luke couldn’t become a Mirage Keeper before… then what does this mean…?” Christine asked.

“It the-means someone is fiddling with time, and it’s not Lann or Reynn.” Tama answered.

“Who?” Luke asked.

“Doesn’t matter now. You have to recover your strength, I had to the-borrow some of yours to manifest along with your magic. Grimroar is in danger.” Tama giggled.

“Grimroar’s never known any kind of danger outside the usual monsters. What could be causing danger enough to threaten the whole world?” Christine asked with a skeptical look.

“Someone not from here, from the neighboring dimension Grymoire, dummy.” Tama growled before suddenly covering her mouth.

“What’s wrong?” Luke asked.

“I wasn’t the-supposed to tell you that…” Tama answered meekly.

“A neighboring… dimension…?” Christine asked tilting her head.

“F-Forget I the-said anything about that! Only one world here, just the-Grimroar, aha, ahahahaha!” Tama spoke frantically.

“You’re a bad liar.” Luke commented.

“Ow… I let flattery get the-past my defenses…” Tama whined.

“Spill it, before I make you find out what Luke’s like when he sleeps holding something soft.” Christine ordered.

“W-What does he do…?” Tama asked shaking in fear.

“Do you  _ really _ want to know?” Christine responded with a highly agitated look.

“EEK!!! I’ll the-tell you! Just don’t subject me to that!” Tama pleaded.

“Luke, you rest. Tama, you’re coming with me…” Christine ordered lifting the fox carrying her out of the room with her.

“Yep, Christine’s still scary when she wants information.” Luke chuckled.

Luke closed his eyes to go back to sleep as black markings began appearing on his left hand. In his dreams he found himself running from something he was too scared to look at. On his left arm was a jet black full-arm gauntlet bearing a red gemstone in the back of the hand. The ground he was running on suddenly crumbles from underneath him falling into a black abyss.

“Do you understand why your role was overwritten now?” a woman’s voice asked Luke.

He sprung awake in a cold sweat sending Tama flying to the wall across the room. He looked at his arm to see the gauntlet from his dream now equipped, but then it quickly dismissed itself. Tama floated back onto the bed rubbing the small welt on her head.

“What’s wrong? Bad dream?” Tama asked.

“A dream… is that all it was…?” Luke questioned breathing a sigh of relief.

“You’ve got a lot of magical power if your gauntlet is that big when I’m your only Mirage.” Tama pointed out gently taking his hand.

“Tama. Level with me. Am I really supposed to be your ordinary guy? I remember taking the evaluation when I was a little kid with Christine and I didn’t have a single drop of magic in my body.” Luke asked looking at his hand.

“Yes… you were just the-normal before now. A lot of things are at play here in Grimroar. Technically it should be another that’s standing here, but one could the-say the god who made this world has stopped caring about it forcing another to step in.” Tama explained.

“Is that why miracles have stopped happening…?” Luke pondered.

“Well, miracles can’t the-happen without a god to approve them. Somehow Grimroar’s survived on its own though… until it got the-stuck in the loop it’s in now anyway. If the ending doesn’t change then Grimroar is gonna be the-stuck looping through the same disasters for ever and ever through eternity.” Tama explained.

“Disasters?” Luke asked tilting his head.

“Grimroar’s fate comes down to a world-ending event known as ‘The Twelve Disasters’ that turns family on family and friend on friend. It’s a major the-catastrophe.” Tama answered. 

“It’s still early morning… you can tell me about the disasters at a reasonable hour…” Luke yawned before laying back down.

“Good night.” Tama smiled.


	2. The First Disaster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke and Christine go after the first disaster.

It was nearly noon as Luke and Tama left the inn he was put up in. Christine was waiting for him at the plaza’s famous Strife Fountain, featuring a statue of Cloud Strife who helped found the town. She looked to be down in the dumps though.

“What’s wrong Christine?” Luke asked her.

“The exam… restricted the use of anything from the Behemoth evolutionary line… so I had to go in alone and got squashed…” she sighed.

“You didn’t think to read all of the rules before taking me on a suicide mission…?” Luke asked.

“You two the-risked your lives for no reason.” Tama sighed.

“By the way, you should avoid the farm for now…” Christine warned him.

“Why? I work there.” Luke asked.

“Just do it, okay?” Christine ordered.

“Oh no! Luke, the first disaster!” Tama exclaimed.

“What about it?” Luke asked.

“The Queen of Thorns! She’s planted on a farm mistaken for another plant and uses the fertile soil to quickly become a Mirage of nightmares! Originally you don’t survive it!” Tama explained in a panic.

“The farm…” Luke pondered looking in the direction out of town.

“Luke don’t you even think about it, Tama just said you don’t make it out.” Christine scolded him.

“I was normal before… but maybe now I can imprism it…” Luke told her.

“Don’t you understand what a the-disaster is?!” Tama exclaimed in horror.

“Come on Tama, you’re a Mirage right? That means you can help me out.” Luke told her as he grabbed her sprinting for the farm.

“WE’RE GONNA DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEE!!!” Tama cried.

“Luke, wait!” Christine called after him running to catch up.

When they arrived at the hill overlooking the farm they were greeted by a forest of bramble. Luke hurried down the hill to the barn which was still outside the bramble’s reach. He rummaged through the hay of his usual spot and found where he’d stashed his short sword. With a quick turn he hurried outside to start cutting a way into the forest.

“Luke, we’re not ready for this!” Christine shouted hurrying up to him with Tama close behind.

“I owe it to Bernard to try and save his farm.” Luke told her before hurrying inside.

“Ow… Luke, you idiot!” Tama cried before charging in after him.

“We’re really doing this…?” Christine whined before hurrying in drawing her rapier.

Within the bramble forest were strange Mirages resembling human plants. They forced the party behind a large trunk of bramble with streams of thorns from their bramble vines and petals. They weren’t showing any sign of letting up either.

“Wah, they’re way the-worse than Dryads! They’re Thornads, their very prickly and the-unfriendly cousins!” Tama cried holding tight to Luke’s shirt.

“Libra…” Luke whispered carefully scanning the Thornad that was shooting the fastest.

“What are you up to?” Christine asked.

“I need to close the gap so it’ll be in range for imprisming when Tama burns it…” Luke thought to himself.

“What do we do? The forest is going to spread even further if we don’t do something…” Christine groaned.

“Tama, you play an instrumental role in my plan.” Luke told her.

“What do I have to do?” Tama asked.

“When I give the signal, you blast the fast one in the middle with fire to make a Prismitunity.” Luke answered.

“How are we supposed to do that?! They won’t stop firing!” Tama exclaimed flailing her arms.

“I swear I’ll catch you.” Luke told her.

“Huh?” Tama asked.

Before she knew it she was soaring through the air screaming as the Thornads launched their thorns at her. Luke then took the chance to charge in. He then gave a shout to Tama signaling her to breathe fire at the fast shooter setting her on fire screaming running around with a prismitunity aura around her.

“You’re mine!” Luke roared throwing a Prism nailing her in the forehead trapping her.

He grabbed the prism and made a superhuman dive to catch Tama. He rolled to his feet after and hurried back to cover as the thorns focused back on him. Christine was sheet white with her heart about ready to explode. Luke was in a similar state holding Tama tightly to his chest.

“You threw me! I can’t believe you threw me! The plan worked but you threw me!” Tama bawled pounding her paws on his chest.

“You can fly though…” Christine told her.

“HE THREW ME!!!” Tama screamed at her prompting Luke to put his hand on her head.

“You did amazing, Tama. The plan would have fell apart without your courage.” Luke told her making her blush through her tears.

“Luke, this is no time to make a Mirage fall in love with you!” Christine scolded him.

“Right. It’s time to return fire…” Luke smirked summoning the Thornad from her prism now sporting light red and green colors with crimson bramble. 

“So there was a reason you endangered Tama.” Christine smiled.

“Okay Thornad, open fire!” Luke ordered and his new Mirage gleefully began unleashing thorns on her former comrades forcing them to retreat.

“We can move forward, let’s the-go!” Tama exclaimed.

“When did you get gung-ho about this suicide mission?!” Christine barked.

The party hurried through using their new ally to keep the Thornads at bay. Who’d have thought that the thorniest Mirage around wasn’t so fond of being stuck with them. At the very center of the forest was Farmer Bernard’s home. There were massive bramble branches bursting from inside the windows and the doorway. Perched on the roof of the house was a massive Thornad with many sentient bamble vines resembling arms holding onto the inanimate branches. The black and velvet colors of her body, gown, and flowers indicated she was a higher class of being.

“I knew it… a Thornad Queen… the worst kind of being…” Tama whimpered.

“Just like that she lost her nerve.” Christine sighed.

“Unwelcome visitors to my honeymoon…” the Thornad Queen growled as her brambles pulled a thornless cocoon toward her.

“Is that…?” Christine gasped.

“Farmer Bernard?!” Luke exclaimed as the Thornad Queen parted some of the vines to show a man’s face so she could kiss her victim.

“This is the-bad! If she takes a king then that means she plans to make a colony to expand the forest!” Tama exclaimed.

“Do we have a shot at imprisming her…?” Christine asked.

“No choice but to try.” Luke answered summoning his gauntlet.

“Your heads will be wedding gifts.” the Thornad Queen growled lowering herself to ground level.

The party began fighting the Thornad Queen as she summoned many bramble vines to swing at them. Tama’s fire made it easy to dispose of some of the vines, but the queen had no intention of letting them close the gap. More and more bramble came at them along with reinforcement Thornads opening fire with their thorns.

“At this rate we’re the-finished…” Tama whined catching her breath.

“Luke, try to channel Tama’s fire into a Limit Attack.” Christine suggested.

“He’s not ready to try that!” Tama exclaimed.

“Not a lot of options here. I’ll give a shot.” Luke nodded stepping into clear view raising his gauntlet hand into the air.

He closed his eyes focusing and red sparkles began collecting at his palm emitting smoke into the air that ignited into cinders growing into streams of flame forming a massive fireball over his palm. The backup Thornads fled due to the thick smell of smoke and the ash scattering around because of the burning bramble nearby. The Thornad Queen was now visibly unnerved by the sight of Luke’s glare.

“Eat this… Wildfire Blast!” Luke roared throwing the fireball at her.

She tried to block it with thick vines, but the ball exploded blasting flames everywhere. Her vines began to wither causing her to have to stand on her own as a prismitunity aura flare up around her. Just as she got her barings Luke grabbed her by the face with a prism between his palm and her forehead.

“You lose.” Luke growled before flexing his hand forcibly placing her in the prism instantly sealing.

The bramble forest withered away extinguishing the flames along with it. Farmer Bernard came to moments later and looked around. He looked to be searching for someone.

“Luke… did you… kill her…?” he asked.

“I don’t think we could have done that with our current strength, so I imprismed her.” Luke answered presenting the prism.

“Good… I’d like to have that prism.” Farmer Bernard requested.

“Why? You can’t control Mirages.” Christine asked.

“I raised that Thornad Queen from when she was just a little Leafad… I knew she could and probably would cause trouble if she transfigured beyond Thornad, but I had to take the risk after seeing how miserable she was in that flower pot on a store shelf. I was raising her in the special fertilizer fields in secret. I always made sure the authorities couldn’t find her during field inspection too.” Farmer Bernard confessed.

“You fell in love, huh?” Luke asked.

“Of course I did! She was the sweetest Mirage I’d met… she’d pluck her thorns off just so she wouldn’t hurt me when she hugged me, even knowing they’d regrow moments later. She even taught herself to talk like us by studying my exchanges with people.” Farmer Bernard smiled.

“Well she nearly made a the-groom out of you to destroy the surrounding towns.” Tama told him.

“That’s because I agreed to be her groom. I’d like to make good on my vows to her. I swear to keep her in check.” he explained.

“You think we’re going to do that?!” Christine exclaimed.

“Sure.” Luke spoke tossing Bernard the prism.

“YOU’RE SERIOUS???!!!” both Tama and Christine roared in shock.

“What’s the harm? She’s not malicious after being imprismed now so it should be a green flag on all fronts.” Luke shrugged as Bernard freed the Thornad Queen, who now sported vibrant red and green colors with shiny black hair.

“My vines and my body still sting fiercely from the fire… but you spared me despite the destruction I caused. I owe my life to you… order me to perform any deed, just name it, and I shall do it.” the Thornad Queen smiled.

“Anything, huh? Be a good wife to Bernard and don’t destroy anything with a bramble forest or anything.” Luke told her.

“Consider it done.” the Thornad Queen nodded.

“Luke… I guess that gauntlet means that you’re not gonna be around for awhile, huh? I wish you luck with that.” Bernard told him.

“That easy? What about his replacement while we’re handling the disasters?” Christine asked.

“Read the mood, Christine...” Tama sighed shaking her head.

“It might be a while, so I’ll be taking some extended leave.” Luke told Bernard while shaking his hand.

“Take all the time you need.” Bernard nodded.

“What mood…?” Christine asked tilting her head.

“Don’t read into it and come back to town with me.” Luke sighed taking her by the wrist.

“Let’s go, move it, move it.” Tama urged her as Luke pulled her along.

“O-Okay, okay, I’m going…” Christine complained.

In town they stopped by the local hospital for healing. After that the party got a room at the inn to discuss the other disasters. The order they occurred would affect their plan of attack.

“Okay Tama, explain the other eleven.” Luke ordered.

“We the-already had the Queen of Thorns occur, so that’s one down. The other eleven occur as follows: The Traitor of the Crystal Cave, The Shadow of the Sun, The Light of the Moon, The Earthbreaker, The Sky Tyrant, The Ruler of the Sea, The King of the Dead, The Tower of the End, The Winged Proclaimer, The Dark Executioner, and lastly… The Door of the Abyss. These eleven plus the Queen of Thorns make twelve total world ending the-disasters.” Tama explained.

“Traitor of the Crystal Cave…” Luke spoke aloud as he thought to himself.

“Crystal Cave must refer to the Cloister of Trials near Titania. At least that’s the only crystal cave I know of.” Christine shrugged.

“Titania… that’s at least three days away on foot.” Luke stated.

“We could rent a Giga Chocobo and do it in one.” Christine suggested.

“Not all of us have the Gil to rent a Giga Chocobo. Plus you have your personal Giga Chocobo ready at all times in the stables, Ms. Mirage Keeper 4th Class.” Luke growled making Christine whistle innocently.

“Giga Chocobo…?” Tama asked.

“A breed of giant Chocobo that’s more than large enough to carry Jiants like us on their backs. They come in plumages of red, blue, violet, and black.” Christine answered.

“How expensive are they?” Tama asked.

“Renting? It’s 10,000 Gil a bird because they’re notoriously hard to tame in the wild. Raising a Chocochick into one takes almost an eternity too, so they’re very difficult to get your hands on.” Luke answered. 

“That’s the-super expensive!” Tama exclaimed.

“So on foot it is, since Giga Chocobos can only carry one passenger each and no more.” Luke told her.

“Let’s get some shuteye for now.” Christine yawned.

“You aren’t using a seperate room?” Tama asked.

“I can trust Luke. He also knows what I can do to him if he tries anything.” Christine smiled.

“Who’d touch an ice queen like you anyway?” Luke scoffed laying back on his bed.

“Did the room just drop degrees…?” Tama asked shivering a bit


	3. The Traitorous Summoner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke and Christine arrive in Titania in time to find the next disaster.

The party arrived in Titania very early in the morning. Christine was worn out but Luke seemed perfectly fine making the difference between farm hand and tamer trainee very obvious. Luke had no clue what to think though, as he’d never seen a population that was inverse where there were more Lilikin than Jiants. 

“Welcome to the-Titania, the Capital of Crystals. The population ratio of Jiants to Lilikin is 2 to 8.” Tama smiled.

“Why so spooked, Luke?” Christine giggled.

“I’m not spooked, just… you know, wasn’t expecting a city like this to be so close to home. They tell us these populations are rare.” Luke told her.

“It’s Maester Seymour!” a Lilikin exclaimed as fanfare began.

Down the impressive staircase of the palace came a Lilikin Seymour. He waved as he walked making his way down the levels of the city. Lilikin and Jiant alike were cheering for him. When Seymour reached the ground floor everyone knelt down… except for Luke.

“What are you doing…? Kneel.” Christine whispered.

“Why should I have to kneel?” Luke asked.

“It’s disrespectful. He’s a world-renowned summoner.” Christine explained.

“I only kneel to royalty.” Luke scoffed.

“Luke…” Christine growled.

“He is free as a person to do as he likes in the confines of the law. So there is truly nothing forcing him to kneel to me.” Seymour spoke startling both with his presence.

“P-Please forgive his rudeness, maester…” Christine pleaded.

“I am not offended by his beliefs. Rather, I am quite fond of them. He sees beyond my title of maester and summoner to the person they belong to. This trait will allow him to befriend many regardless of their class and status, something rare these days.” Seymour smiled.

“Your words are far too kind, maester.” Christine spoke.

“Do you know how to get to the Cloister of Trials near here?” Luke asked bluntly.

“Indeed. I am headed there myself. Shall I show you the way?” Seymour offered.

“We’d be honored!” Christine exclaimed.

“Dunno about honored, but definitely grateful.” Luke shrugged.

“Luke!” Christine growled.

“I shall ask that you follow me then.” Seymour smiled.

The group then left Titania with Seymour’s guidance. It was nice and sunny when at last they arrived at the Cloister. It seemed to be connected to a massive mountain. The cave itself certainly lived up to its disaster namesake as there were crystals of all color everywhere inside it. Parts of the floor were crystal as well.

“Inside it can be dangerous. The Mirages here are not found anywhere else in Grimroar, causing many to panic when seeing them for the first time. I’m quite glad you’re accompanying me… new summoners who attempt the trial often fail due to a lack of guardians.” Seymour chuckled.

“It’s an honor to be considered your Guardian.” Christine nervously smiled.

“Let’s go in.” Luke grinned confidently.

“I second that motion.” Seymour smiled.

They continued inward and found the sandy part of the floor was almost snow-like in texture and feel under their feet, yet their feet didn’t become wet from stepping in it. They encountered strange Mirages on a blue crystal bridge that looked like small people in fully sealed white jumpsuits. It was easy for Luke and Christine to imprism one each by smacking them around a little.

“What are these little guys…?” Christine asked poking hers as it weightlessly sat on her forearm.

“According to Libra this is called a ‘Dusk’. This form is somewhat lacking in stats and abilities, but they can transfigure into powerful forms as they grow stronger.” Luke answered as his clung to his leg.

“Dusks can become versatile fighters, powerful defenders, and many other vital roles in a combat team once they have changed form. It all depends on what you desire. Dusks are also without elemental weakness.” Seymour chuckled.

“They’ll be worth training up then.” Luke smiled.

They continued further eventually coming to a large crystal wall. There was nothing left, and nothing right - a dead end. Luke touched the wall trying to peer through it.

“Allow me.” Seymour smiled performing the prayer of Yevon.

The crystal then began to glow and faded away to reveal a tunnel passage. Seymour led the way inside where numerous colored crystals were floating. He then approached the jet black crystal.

“Maester, if I may, isn’t the Aeon contained in this cave Valefor?” Christine asked.

“To the untrained eye, that is correct… however, I seek a far more valuable prize. To power of the Forbidden One, Anima…” Seymour grinned staring at the black crystal drawing energy from it.

“Luke, the next disaster!” Tama cried as Seymour shattered the crystal.

“What’d you do that for?!” Luke asked in shock.

“So no one else may claim Anima’s power. All of these crystals are bound to one another… destroy one, and you destroy all of them.” Seymour chuckled turning to them.

“What do you plan on doing with that Aeon?” Christine asked him.

“Simple. I plan to use its power to help the Bahamutian Army take over the world. In exchange, they will help me find and slay the Fiend known as Sin. Queen Melody Pharos Bahamut II has sworn it on her family crest, a promise that cannot be broken.” Seymour answered.

“I thought the queen of Bahamutia was named Elizabeth?” Luke asked.

“Naturally you would be ignorant of the news, but I assassinated her parents and siblings so that she can take the throne unopposed. Under orders from the princess herself, of course.” Seymour grinned sadistically.

“That’s high treason, Maester Seymour… it’s a joke, right…? That violates the non-aggression treaty...” Christine spoke staggering backward in shock.

“I don’t think it’s a joke, Christine… and something tells me now that we know we’re not walking away.” Luke spoke drawing his sword.

“Of course not. We can’t have you spoiling the big surprise before Her Majesty is ready, can we…?” Seymour chuckled.

“You’re going down!” Luke roared charging him.

Seymour stood there and allowed Luke to wound him knocking him into the wall. Luke was almost shocked that he didn’t try to block or dodge it. Seymour stood with a hand on his injury… and a grin reaching ear to ear on his face.

“Feel my pain… come, Anima.” Seymour chanted as he performed a summoning dance.

“I think we fell for a the-trick…” Tama spoke nervously.

A chain dropped into the floor making a portal, and the Aeon was pulled from the depths. Anima unleashed an ear splitting scream making Luke and Christine’s party cover their ears. The fight with Anima began and the Aeon unleashed a laser that shattered the other crystals. There was nothing left of them but piles of multicolor dust.

“Note to self: Do NOT get hit with that.” Luke nervously nodded to himself.

“Are we even making a dent in it?!” Christine exclaimed dodging a blast after attacking again.

“Anima, return.” Seymour’s voice spoke, and when Anima vanished Seymour was gone.

“Where’d he go?!” Christine gasped in shock.

“You two were surprisingly resilient. I’ll reward you with a farewell gift for being such good sports.” Seymour’s voice spoke as something beeped behind them alerting them to a bomb on the ground.

“Oh that son on a-!” Luke spoke before it went off taking the floor out from under them causing the party to fall into the darkness below.

Luke came to and found that his Mirages had tried to cushion his fall using themselves. He was alive, so he counted it as a success despite the bit of blood on his forehead. He used a Phoenix Down on them and gave both his Thornad and Dusk a loving pat on the head. Across the way Christine was laying on what looked like a giant marshmallow. He pulled her off of it and tried to shake her awake.

“Christine, come, wake up.” Luke ordered patting her cheek a bit.

“What happened…?” Christine groaned coming to.

“We fell after Seymour blew up the floor, remember?” Luke reminded her.

“Oh… right…” Christine sighed in disbelief.

“If what he said about Anima is true, then he cut off every Summoner around the world.” Luke stated.

“That’s the-bad! If summoners can’t access the Aeons, how will they be able to remain Summoners?!” Tama exclaimed appearing before them.

“Hey Tama… why didn’t you warn us about the bomb?” Luke asked.

“Uh… even I the-couldn’t detect it…” she nervously answered.

“You weren’t paying attention were you?!” Christine scolded her.

“I the-was! I was just preoccupied keeping you alive!” Tama exclaimed remorsefully.

“Sure you were… unbelievable, Tama.” Christine growled.

“Don’t be so hard on her, everyone makes mistakes now and then. Sure it was a big blunder, but you’d know a thing or two about those now wouldn’t you?” Luke scolded Christine.

“What’s that supposed to mean?!” Christine barked at him.

“The Behemoth Incident before this whole situation? Better yet how about the Black Chocobo Incident where I wound up hospitalized because of your mistake?” Luke elaborated making Christine’s nerve die instantly.

“How about we the-focus on getting out of here…?” Tama suggested nervously.

“Only one way to go… and we have no clue if the tunnel even leads out.” Luke sighed.

“We’re in no shape to fight after that fall either...” Christine groaned.

The party moved through the passage being careful not to disturb anything they may come across. They soon came into a chamber made of black obsidian with torches lit with purple fire on the walls. In the center captured within a clear crystal prison was what appeared to be a Shiva around the age of seven. She was crying with her face buried in her knees.

“Who are you?” Luke asked her spooking her.

“H-Humans…? How did you find this place…?” the young Shiva sniffled.

“We had the floor taken out from under us.” Christine answered.

“I’m Luke, this is Christine, and that’s Tama. Do you have a name by chance?” Luke introduced themselves.

“Yuki. My mommy put me in here… she said my powers are unstable because I’m a crybaby...” she sniffled.

“Are you crying because of that now?” Christine asked kneeling down to be eye level with her.

“No… I’m crying… because mommy left me…” Yuki hiccuped.

“So breaking the crystals didn’t just block access, it prevents them from flat out coming to this side.” Luke pieced together.

“That’s horrible… she’s so little…” Christine gasped.

“Yuki, do you want to come with us?” Luke asked her kneeling as well.

“With you…?” Yuki sniffled.

“We’ll keep you safe inside a prism. You won’t have to fight anything if you don’t want to.” Christine smiled warmly showing one to her.

“You… don’t mind me being a crybaby…?” Yuki sniffled.

“Of course not. You’re just a kid, no one’s going to blame you if you cry now and then. I didn’t stop crying about things until I was ten.” Luke reassured her.

“I don’t see a release on the crystal…” Christine spoke looking it over.

“Yuki, I need you to be brave for just a second… I’m going to have to break you out.” Luke warned her.

“O-Okay…” Yuki nodded before closing her eyes and covering her ears.

Using the scabbard of his blade he smashed the crystal wide open giving both Christine and Luke’s hair a light frost as a burst of cold air hit them. Luke then gently helped Yuki out of the crystal. Her skin was ice cold to the touch, yet softer than normal skin. She happily let them imprism her, but her prism went into Luke’s pack instead of Christine’s, which disappointed her just as bit. The party then continued through the other exit to the room. They eventually came out to the rapid downward river that was below the first area of the cave.

“I can see the exit… but how do we get up there?” Christine pondered.

“Yuki, can you freeze the river into stairs so we can climb up?” Luke asked her as he pulled out the prism.

“I-I’ll try…” Yuki spoke as she came out of her prism.

“We believe in you.” Christine smiled and Yuki smiled meekly.

She focused as she blew a cloud of snow onto her palm. Yuki then carefully and gently blew the cloud onto the river causing it to rapidly begin freezing and shaping into steps all the way up to the top level. Both Luke and Christine were in awe at the inclusion of a rail in case they slip as well. The steps themselves had a dusting of snow to make them less slick as well.

“Thanks Yuki.” Luke smiled patting her head making her blush.

She returned to her prism and the party hurried up the steps. Once outside there was smoke coming from the direction of Titania. They hurried back to town and hanging in the air was a Bahamutian Airship. In town soldiers were looting the town. Luke and Christine sprang into action taking them out as quick as they could. Near the palace they were confronted by  a machine that seemed impervious to their attacks.

“Damn it… we don’t have time for this…” Luke growled.

“Allow me to assist.” a man’s voice spoke.

In a flash a Lilikin version of Auron from Final Fantasy X leapt past them cleaving the machine in two. He dusted himself off and turned to look at the party.

“You shouldn’t go leaping into battles that you aren’t prepared to finish. It’s a quick way to lose your life.” Auron lectured them.

“Who asked you for advice, old man?” Luke scoffed.

“Hmph. You remind me of a kid I know. You two would get along nicely. If you’re going to keep fighting, try to keep up.” Auron smirked before rushing on ahead.

“I’ll show you who has to keep up!” Luke growled rushing after him.

“Luke, wait!” Christine called after him hurrying to keep up.

With Auron’s held the party easily made it to the palace. Once inside the audience hall, the princess of Bahamutia from Chapter 1 was standing among a bloody battlefield of corpses. She was dressed in black Bahamutian Army platemail without the helmet now and wielding a claymore bearing a ruby red blade. Auron tried to strike her but she easily knocked him away getting his blade stuck in the ground.

“I remember you…” the princess spoke glaring at Christine.

“What do you mean? We’ve never met before.” Christine told her.

“You may not have met me… but I’ve met you.” she spoke readying her blade.

“She’s trying to get in your head, Christine. Focus.” Luke told her drawing his blade while summoning his gauntlet.

The duo fought with the princess having great difficulty. She was much stronger than her slender build let on. Christine couldn’t touch her, but Luke was managing to break her guard with his gauntlet and sword style. The princess hit Christine’s gut hard taking the wind out of her making Luke her only contender. They eventually hit a power struggle between their blades.

“You… I don’t know you…” the princess spoke with surprise in her voice as her eyes sprung to life with awe and wonder.

“The name is Luke!” he cried knocking her blade up allowing him to directly punch her with his gauntlet hand knocking her to the wall seeming to knock her out.

“Well then… Her Majesty can slip up after all.” a voice chuckled and Sephiroth appeared in Lilikin form.

“The Bahamutian Army’s General…” Christine spoke gathering her breath.

“You two showed me a rare sight… that is the only reason I am sparing your lives today.” Sephiroth chuckled as he easily lifted the princess and warped away.

“Your Majesty? So that was Bahamutia’s new queen… Melody.” Christine spoke managing to get to her feet.

“So you two are better than I thought…” Auron groaned getting to his feet.

“Who are you anyway?” Luke asked.

“My name is Auron. I was supposed to guard this city’s royalty… but I was led astray by a false emergency monster report from Seymour, allowing the Bahamutian Army to attack. I was only able to save the young prince of this nation.” Auron answered.

“Oh that’s right! Seymour’s a traitor! He destroyed all of those Aeon things in the Cloister of Trials!” Luke exclaimed.

“I see… then Yuna is the last Summoner on our side.” Auron sighed.

“We have to let her know, right? Where is she?” Luke asked him.

“You can find her in the Golmore Jungle to the north of here. Be warned though, the Viera aren’t very fond of Jiants in their woods. I wouldn’t expect a very warm welcome.” Auron answered.

“Luke, we should rest first… you look absolutely exhausted… fighting here was a gamble in of itself.” Christine told him.

“Yeah…” Luke sighed in defeat.

Aboard the Airship Colossus, Queen Melody was on Cloud 9 staring out the window despite her wounds. Sephiroth looked highly amused by the sight as Seymour entered. Seymour himself shed a grin.

“Did something happen, Your Majesty? It’s unlike you to show emotion.” Seymour asked.

“Today I met a guy who can actually go toe to toe with me… his name is Luke.” Melody giggled in response.

“Is that so? I met a young man with that same name earlier. Perhaps he was more tenacious than I gave him credit for.” Seymour chuckled in amusement.

“Shall I determine if he’s as good as you say, Majesty?” Sephiroth asked.

“No… leave them be, general… Luke is MINE the next we meet.” Melody grinned.


End file.
